


Baby Lizard

by basilbleu



Series: It Burns [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cute, Cute Kids, Desert, Fire, Fluff, Kid Keith (Voltron), Light Angst, Necromancer Keith, Necromancy, Witch Keith, blissfully unaware au, child keith, fire witch keith, like a little kids gets upset
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-19 10:44:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16533059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/basilbleu/pseuds/basilbleu
Summary: The first time Keith could recall using the more volatile side of his magick, he’d been a sad child with a broken baby lizard cupped between his hands.------Kid Keith unknowingly uses his less favorable magick.





	Baby Lizard

**Author's Note:**

> it's a little bit of vague background about Keith and his developing powers but i hope you guys like

The first time Keith could recall using the more volatile side of his magick, he’d been a sad child with a broken baby lizard cupped between his hands. 

It was rough, almost looked as if it had been baked in the hot desert sun, barely a recognizable corpse, but Keith wept over its small body cradled close to his chest. He had never seen the lizard before, not even in the group that would warm themselves on the rock in the yard in the morning. It was a new friend that he never got to meet and truly he shouldn’t be as broken up about it as he was, but this was different than finding the whips of leftover plants that scattered the desert or the trails of snakeskin under the porch. He’d never met the baby, but it was the first time he’s been this close to death. 

He had snuck it into the house - his dad never liked when he brought in dust and rocks so he figured a desert lizard wouldn’t be appreciated either. His pop told him that the Koganes burn their dead, that their flames help release their relatives’ souls, but the lizard wasn’t a Kogane. Keith couldn’t set it aflame. But he knew that some other witches bury their dead. He snuck into his room with the intention of doing just that. 

Nothing deserved to sink into the golden sand that scorched everything it touched. He didn’t want to leave the baby alone outside in the dust without its parents. He had some rich brown soil in his room that was cool to the touch and a fitting place for the baby. 

After he quietly closed his wooden door, he bounded over to his bed, where a small pot that housed a cactus rested on the window sill. He wiped at the drying tears that stained his face with a sandy hand, sticking the sediments over his chubby cheeks. Reluctantly, he set the lizard down next to the pot, hiccuping a little at the sight, a fresh wave of tears gathering in his eyes.

He couldn’t help but feel an immense sadness wash over him as he knelt on his bed staring at the dried lizard. How could its mom leave it alone? Babies weren’t meant to be without their moms, especially in such a desolate place. He had found it alone on his porch, practically burnt into the crooked wood without any other lizards around. At least its parents should’ve been there but Keith couldn’t find them. Not under the porch or resting in the sun. He even went around back to see if maybe they were cooling down in the shadow of the house. 

But the baby was alone. 

Remembering made Keith sink further into his dismal mood. The baby had no one. 

At least he had his pop. 

Again, he wiped at his tears before reaching out toward the cactus to pull it out of its pot to make room for the baby. If it didn’t have a family of its own, then Keith would be its new family and would bury it himself in a place close to him, so that it’s never have to be alone again.

As his fingers touched the cactus, a sharp pull tugged at his gut and suddenly his flames were surrounding the small plant, encapsulating it in a live golden fire. 

“Nooo!” Keith whined at the loss of his plant, trying to control his fire but failing miserably. He thought he’d gotten pretty good at controlling it - could even form simple shapes with them and stopped sneezing little orange flames - but no matter how hard he focused, the flames wouldn’t diminish, not even a lick peeled away from the plant. His shoulders slumped in defeat as it slowly withered within the flames.

However, he didn’t notice the lizard until then.

A new burst of helplessness ran through him at the sight of the baby being consumed by his own flames. Frantically, he resorted to blowing on the fire to try to save the lizard, but like the cactus, his flames didn’t extinguish. And the horrible tugging feeling in the pit of his stomach didn’t relent. The more Keith focused on it, the more...alien it felt.

It wasn’t the same tug he called upon when controlling his flames - similar but not exact. When he used his magick to create his fire, it was light, barely noticeable unless he was concentrating on learning a new trick or controlling its temperature. But this new feeling was stifling and he swore he could taste the bitter ash on his tongue and the smoke in his lungs and it burned. The tug overwhelmed him and the dead ash clogged his throat until he was choking on nothing. 

His eyes stung and his sight was blurred by tears. All he could see was the outline of the burning lizard on his window sill. His heart clenched, but he thought maybe animals could be burned instead of buried. He claimed the baby as his, so it was a Kogane and Koganes were buried with fire. The thought made him feel slightly better about losing control of his magick.

Moments, maybe hours passed. Finally the tugging released Keith. He slumped forward, leaning his cheek on the window sill and hugging his shoulders, his breath haggard and raw, despite the taste of ash disappearing. 

He pried his heavy eyes opened and slowly they focused on the lizard. 

The lizard blinking and bobbing its head. 

He jumped up, excitement masking his confusion, as he stared at the lizard darting toward the window, away from his sudden movement. His jaw slacked expression slowly wound back into awe. He squealed and carefully picked up the baby, cradling it to his chest and joyously laughing as he jumped on his knees on the bed until suddenly he stopped, remembering the tiny passenger in his hand. 

He had no idea how the lizard was alive. At the moment, he honestly didn’t care and all thoughts of the horrible pit in his stomach vanished. Nothing else mattered now that he could be the lizard’s family. He brought it up to his face and quietly whispered that it’ll never be alone again. 

Keith giggled as he clambered off his bed and across his room toward the door. He’d have to make a home for baby Kogane to live in and the glass bowl in the kitchen cabinet would be perfect! He would put sand and a few of his pretty rocks he collected in it. The baby would live right next to his bed so he could always look after it. 

His missing tooth shone obviously with his wide smile as he closed the door to his bedroom, forgetting about the burnt cactus crumbling to ash in its pot.

**Author's Note:**

> [follow me on tumblr!](https://basilbleu.tumblr.com)


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